Yoon Sang-hyun: 'I deeply sympathize with anger at Olympic Park, but resolving it within the system is a politician's duty'

'We must become a mass party and go out into the sea of public opinion'

The National Assembly formed a special committee to investigate the shortage of ballot papers and other alleged infringements on citizens' voting rights during the simultaneous local elections. The committee also aims to pursue election management reform. It conducted an on-site inspection of the handball stadium at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the morning of Sept. 2. Committee Chair Yoon Sang-hyun is seen entering the vote-counting station.

People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun said Thursday that he "deeply sympathizes with the anger and passion of those at Olympic Park," referring to Party Leader Jang Dong-hyeok's visit there. He said it is "a politician's basic duty to channel that anger within the system and resolve it."

Speaking on YTN Radio the same day, Yoon said there were, surprisingly, many within the party who disagreed with Jang's leadership.

"If they publicly declared their intent to call for (Jang's) resignation, it would likely be more than 30 lawmakers," he said. "I have said we should take 'a path of change, innovation and unity' and not 'a path of exclusion and punishment,' but that message is not getting through." He added, "The party-member-centered party that (Jang) is championing narrows our footing far too much. We need to become a public-centered party, an inclusive party, a mass party, and go out into the sea of public opinion."

He went on to say, "We should not be a party-member-centered party, but rather a public-centered, inclusive, mass party. A party-member-centered party only narrows our footing." He added, "It seems he is determined to build a political base by whatever means necessary, and that is likely why he appeared at the anti-impeachment rally."

Yoon said Jang's actions made sense to him after hearing South Chungcheong Province Governor Park Soo-hyun recount Jang's remarks. According to Park, Jang had said, "I have no base in the Gyeongsang region, and senior party figures already control South Chungcheong, so I have no choice but to build a political base centered on hardline conservatives."

He added, "If the party keeps heading toward a party-member-centered structure, do you think common-sense, reform-minded, rational conservatives will just sit still?" He continued, "If Jang runs in next year's party leadership primary under the banner of party-member centrism, a new conservative party will inevitably emerge."

mp1256@heraldcorp.com